1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed toward a surface mounted electrical component. The invention is also directed toward a method of assembling the electrical component. The invention is more particularly directed toward an electrical connector, adapted to be mounted on the top surface of a printed circuit board (PCB), and to a method of assembling the connector. The invention is further directed toward an anchor element forming part of the assembled electrical connector, the anchor element used in connecting the connector to a PCB.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known to mount an electrical component, such as an electrical connector, on the surface of a printed circuit board (PCB). The electrical connector is mounted on the surface of the PCB by soldering electrical connecting leads, located on the bottom of the connector, to the surface of the board, the connecting leads providing an electrical connection between contacts carried by the electrical connector and electrical elements carried by the PCB. However, the surface mount (SM) soldered joints between the connecting leads and the PCB are not very strong and can be easily broken by many types of force applied to the connector. To strengthen the connection between the electrical connector and the PCB, additional mechanical fastening means can be employed to connect the connector to the PCB. However, these fastening means have their own disadvantages. Excessive force may be required in the automated assembly machines, used in connecting the connectors to the PCB's, to insert mechanical fasteners. The excessive force may however cause damage to the connectors. Drilling of the PCB's may also be required to accommodate the additional mechanical fasteners which operation can increase the cost of assembly.
It is known to provide separate soldered connections between the connector and the PCB over and above the soldered lead connections. These separate soldered connections employ anchor elements mounted in the connector and extending down through the connector from the top surface of the connector to the bottom surface to abut soldering pads on the top surface of the PCB. An example of this type of connection is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,857. The arrangement lends itself to use in the automated assembly machines. However, the anchor elements employed do not always make good contact with the soldering pads on the PCB since the bottoms of all the anchor elements are not always aligned, and therefore the joints formed are not consistently strong. The length of the anchor element is critical and if too short, a poor solder joint is obtained between the end of the anchor and the pad. If the anchor element is too long, its bottom end can be deformed, by top pressure on the anchor element, into a cup-shaped configuration, again resulting in a poor solder joint. A too-long anchor element can also tilt the connector away from the PCB at one end resulting in poor seals between the connecting leads and the PCB.